Borodino-class battlecruiser
The Borodino-class battlecruisers were ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I. Three of the four ships were launched in 1915 and the fourth in 1916. Construction of the ships was delayed by a lack of capacity among domestic factories and the need to order some components from abroad. The Russian Revolution of 1917 halted all work on the ships, which was never resumed. They were all eventually sold for scrap by the Soviet Union.
About Borodino-class battlecruiser in brief
The Borodino-class battlecruisers were ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I. Three of the four ships were launched in 1915 and the fourth in 1916. Construction of the ships was delayed by a lack of capacity among domestic factories and the need to order some components from abroad. The Russian Revolution of 1917 halted all work on the ships, which was never resumed. They were all eventually sold for scrap by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Navy proposed to convert Izmail, the ship closest to completion, to an aircraft carrier in 1925, but the plan was cancelled after political manoeuvring by the Red Army led to funding not being available. The obsolete ironclad Chesma was modified with armour protection identical to that used by the Gangut-class battleships, then under construction. The deck and side armour proved to be too thin, and the structure supporting the side was not strong enough to withstand the shock of heavy shells. The Borodinos’ deck was reinforced with extra plates and the thickness of the main belt was slightly reduced. The first pair of ships each from the Admiralty Shipyard and the Baltic Works, also of Saint Petersburg, were launched on 14 July 1916. The second pair was to be ready for trials on 14 September 1916, but they were never completed. The third and fourth ships were never finished, and they were scrapped after the Soviet Navy decided to convert them to aircraft carriers. The last ship to be completed was the Izmail class, which served with the Baltic Fleet until the end of the First World War.
The design was similar to that of the Ganguts’ and therefore needed to be modified to be able to be built in the same time frame as the GangUTs. The final design was based on the design of the German battleship Kriegsmarine’s battleship, which had been built from 1910 to 1914. The ship’s armament was increased to nine 356-millimetre guns in three non-superfiring triple-gun turrets, based on a false rumour that the Germans were increasing the calibre of the guns in their battleships. The ships were overbudget by about 7 million rubles each, and some money was diverted from the budget for the Svetlana-class cruiser to cover the discrepancy. In the meantime, the Artillery Section of the Main Administration of Shipbuilding had decided that it preferred a four-turret design, and new bids were solicited in May 1912 from the leading contenders from the first round of bidding. The Naval General Staff issued a new specification on 1 July 1911 for a ship with a speed of only 26. 5 knots and with armour increased to 254 mm. The Tsar, head of the Russian government, approved construction of four such ships on 5 May 1911. The State Duma session ended before the proposal could be voted on. The Duma approved construction in May 2012, before the design was finalised, and allocated 45. 5 million ruble for each ship.
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